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The Refugee Studies Centre hosted this major international conference on 16-17 March, thirty-five years after the RSC was founded. Its purpose was to reflect on the role that Refugee Studies can play in the world. In the context of profound changes in the nature of forced displacement, the conference assessed what kinds of knowledge, evidence, and concepts are needed to understand and respond to contemporary challenges.

Over the past two years, the so-called European refugee crisis has created unprecedented public interest in forced displacement, as well as a demand for research. Yet despite a series of policy-oriented conferences, there have been few spaces in which to reflect on the state of Refugee Studies and to explore the extent to which we have the academic tools necessary to think about and respond to a changing world.

Against this backdrop, this conference sought to reinvigorate scholarly debate on ways in which we can conceive of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. By bringing together a range of reflective thinkers and their work, alongside policy-makers and practitioners, our hope is to develop a research agenda and scholarly community that can engage meaningfully with the long-term challenges of forced displacement.